“Privacy Loophole” on Facebook, MySpace and other Social Media Sites

The Wall Street Journal, citing an AT&T Labs and Worcester Polytechnic Institute paper, has reported that a “privacy loophole” found on social networking sites, including Facebook and MySpace, allowed for data to be shared with advertisers that could potentially be used to identify users – in spite of promises from the companies that user information is not shared without specific consent.

Renowned security researcher Ben Edelman explains in his analysis of the topic, “Facebook Leaks Usernames, User IDs, and Personal Details to Advertisers,” that, “Merely clicking an advertiser's ad reveals to the advertiser the user's Facebook username or user ID. With default privacy settings, the advertiser can then see almost all of a user's activity on Facebook, including name, photos, friends, and more.”